Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Terra

Chapter 14 Hiding Away From Home

 The story Daika gave Yvonne and Cinder about her own perspective wasn't anything that either of them considered. Essentially, what the two of them were told by Daika herself was that she was mind controlled by a star demon named Apollo whose real name turned out to be Ipos. He made her contribute within the war Amaterasu started. Daika herself was already a well known figure throughout both the Fire and Terra Kingdoms. She was dubbed the fiercest general the Kingdom of Fire has ever had, though she was a dwarf initially born in the Kingdom of Terra. That being said, Daika had families on both sides fighting each other in this war. She was someone who was born in one land but grew up in another.

Yvonne continued to build Cinder's new body, being nearly halfway done with her own work. "So let me get this straight. You wanted to make the Kingdom of Fire believe you got caught so it wouldn't look like you betrayed them from their perspective but on the other hand, you were actually wanting to plead with the king and queen here about stopping the war? You thought they would really listen to you?" Yvonne asked Daika who was sitting in an old rocking chair.

"Maybe not. I had to try though. Everyone in Fire expects me to be their fiercest general but I have family here in Terra too. This is one fight I couldn't have ever won. Before they would even start to listen to what I had to say, they started hunting me down. I've been hiding here ever since." That was the part of Daika's story that bothered Yvonne. "If you've been hiding here ever since then it's not safe. I already told you ever since I started building Cinder's body that-" Daika decides to interrupt her. "That one of the star demons could have already known where I was with this bilocation you speak of? Yeah I know. I always figured this place was more of a cage anyway. Maybe that's why Bila hasn't tried anything." A thought suddenly comes to Daika. "HA! That's too funny!" Daika's sudden burst of laughter alerts Yvonne.

"Keep it down. I don't want us to get caught." Yvonne started to look around the old rusty building they were in as if someone or something might start coming around the corner. A few panels of the glass dome above them were shattered and moss had crawled up and around the walls. "I'm sorry missy. It's just after you told me about the one working with Amaterasu, I realized that I walked into the same story I tried to forge about being trapped." Yvonne looked to Cinder who was laying on the bed she had dragged out to the small indoor garden they were in. Cinder was laying motionless with her eyes wide open, listening to the both of them, observing.

"I assume you have not been here long, since the news of you being gone was still recent when we made it back to Luminar." Cinder commented as she tried to turn her head and look at Daika in which Yvonne had to immediately fix. "I wouldn't move your head right now hon. Your new body isn't done." Yvonne said, adjusting Cinder's head and straightening it out. "Would it be easier to attach my head to the body once it is finished?" Cinder asked. "It would but I want you to get as used to the body for as long as you possibly can. I also need your cooperation." Yvonne explained.

"With what?" "Try to see if you can move one of your left fingers. If anything happens or not, I'll know how much progress I've made." Yvonne pointed to the left arm that she was almost done making. After a couple of seconds, waiting, Cinder spoke up again. "Did it work?" She asked knowing she couldn't lift her head up to see. "No. I still need to make a few tweaks. Hold on." Yvonne went to one side of the indoor garden they were in to rummage through a pile of junk she found throughout the old building, using whatever she could find to build something new.

"I have to say that your skills are amazing, Yvonne. You realize that Cinder was able to turn her head and face me right? That must mean that the nerves in her neck are fully connected to the torso you made. You may be able to pull this off." Daika said as she watched Yvonne throw several mechanical machinery every which way, trying to find something that could possibly work. "Well of course. I don't have any doubt that this will work. I just hope that we have enough time." Yvonne said to her.

"You don't have to worry about anyone finding us. We're safe in this worn out building." "Not that. Sol, William, and Jordan were captured. There's no telling where they could be and I'm not sure how we can track them down without Sköll." Yvonne still had her back turned from Daika and Cinder as she tried her best to explain. Among the pile of junk and scrap, Yvonne picked up what seemed to be two small rings. She took them both and quickly put them in her toolbelt.

"Whichever the case may be, I'm sure they feel the same way about you two." Yvonne came back over and dropped more mechanical parts on the ground, quickly getting back to work again. However, Daika wanted to keep their conversation going despite Yvonne's deep focus and to prevent herself from becoming bored. "So how long have you girls been together for? You make a cute couple." It was a simple question that made Yvonne hesitate. "Almost our whole lives, since we were both kids." "I see." That became Daika's only response as the dwarf was beginning to grasp just how much Yvonne feels about Cinder.

"Sol was able to prove that Cinder still had memories from when she was still human. I'm just worried if Cinder will ever find them again." Daika looked at Cinder herself. "What do you think? Remember anything yet?" The dwarf asked her. "No. If I may ask however, would there be any point in getting the old me back?" Cinder asked. "Of course there's a point! This is your whole identity we're talking about!" Yvonne was just about flabbergasted that Cinder would ask a question like that.

"I don't mean to come across as crude. I just know that you want me to get my memories back, which is admirable, I understand. Though, sirens are immortal unless the head is completely destroyed. If the old me comes back, would she be able to handle the heartbreak of losing you one day for eternity?" "I don't know. All I know is that I'm the one who's heartbroken right now. I miss you Cinder." That was Yvonne's only answer. "It seems Cinder is indifferent about it all. But you, Yvonne, clearly know what you want. Why don't you tell us a story from one of your childhood memories? Maybe that will help Cinder remember something?" Daika's suggestion was just what Yvonne needed.

"Alright, then I'll start from the beginning, when we first met." As Yvonne told her story, she also continued to work on Cinder's new body, multitasking. The story Yvonne wanted to tell goes back to when the girls were just seven years old.